Students Face Their Public Speaking Fears and Win

Press Relase

For Immediate Release

Nancy Mui, a college senior, and Sequenza Williams, a high school senior proved they can compete in the adult arena. Both students were winners of the prestigious mentoring program sponsored by Financial Women’s Association (www.fwa.org). The program matches FWA mentors to students. After excelling in the mentorship program, they faced their final hurdle—the acceptance speech. Each student was required to give a three minute speech  at the FWA Annual Dinner before an audience of over 200 adults including Fortune 500 financial companies and sponsors. Recognizing that public speaking is one of the top fears, the FWA brought in Diane DiResta, author of Knockout Presentations and CEO of DiResta Communications, Inc to prepare them for the final event. Over several sessions Ms. DiResta coached them on developing the message, delivering the speech with confidence and in three minutes. They arrived early for a final dress rehearsal in the ballroom where they practiced walking on stage and using the microphone.

Both Nancy and Sequenza approached the platform with poise and gave a knockout presentation. Sequenza shared her growth as a high school senior and personally thanked her mentor by asking for her to stand and accept applause. Sequenza will be attending college in Georgia. Nancy provided several moments of humor and talked about her passion for mentoring other students. She has already been offered her first job beginning this Fall.

“This speech was a milestone for both students,

When It Comes To Public Speaking, Do You Freeze Like A Deer In The Headlights?

Situation: Brad, a corporate executive, was referred by his boss for speech coaching. His presentation style was dry and he was losing credibility among his peers and senior management. He confided that the meetings had become "cutthroat" and that some of the team would "go for the jugular." "It's a very competitive environment," he explained. His boss told him to find a coach and to do it fast. Brad's nervousness on the platform was getting the best of him. He would memorize his slides and freeze up when he saw people roll their eyes. He knew his subject matter but had a difficult time "getting what was in his head and heart to come out of his mouth." Yet, when he would talk off line it was evident that he was very knowledgeable about his subject matter. Brad needed to go from being a talking head to a subject matter expert.

Solution: During the first coaching session, Brad learned to stop memorizing his slides and use them for reference only. He added more stories, anecdotes, and examples to his presentations, and worked on projecting his energy so his voice wouldn't trail off.

Result: Brad gave a presentation at the next meeting a few days later. When asked if his presentation was any better after only one coaching session, his boss replied, "significantly, significantly, significantly, significantly better." Liberated from the cue cards, Brad now speaks with more confidence and style!

Do you know a talking head who's really a subject matter expert in disguise? They can learn to let the expert emerge and dazzle with their ideas.

DiResta Communications, Inc. Communicating With Impact!

Is Fear Making You Invisible?

My blog will focus on case studies from my living laboratory. These are real people and I've changed the names to protect confidentiality. These situations are universal. Fear is one of the worst afflictions in the workplace and in life. It keeps us from taking action, it stalls success and happiness, negatively impacts our reputation, and it keeps us from our dreams. One negative side effect of fear is it makes us invisible as in the case of my client Joan.

Situation: Joan was a bright, successful executive for a Fortune 500 company who was deathly afraid of giving presentations, even at monthly meetings. Joan's fear of speaking was causing her to lose valuable opportunities for visibility in her organization. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, she was eager to begin the speech coaching process. Although Joan was a good enough speaker, she was experiencing anxiety and heart palpitations. She admitted that she was avoiding speaking situations and confided that she knew avoiding public speaking was career suicide.

Solution: I decided to take a two-pronged approach. First I reframed Joan's thinking about public speaking and reduced her perfectionism, which was underlying the fear. Once she changed her thinking, Joan practiced breathing and pausing techniques to gain control.

Result: After 8 hours of coaching, Joan developed a new confidence. At the next monthly meeting she spoke up and felt good about it. She reported that her nervousness was reduced and that she was actually the best presenter in the group! P.S., Joan now shares speaking tips with other speakers in her group! For public speaking tips visit

atozpublicspeaking.com

DiResta Communications, Inc. Communicating With Impact!

Talk Your Way to Small Business Success!

Sunday, April 25 2010 By Susan Wilson Solovic

Successful entrepreneurs are great visionaries, but they also share the gift of gab. They know how to communicate their ideas in an engaging way so others can see and embrace the vision too. More simply stated, they are excellent story-tellers and evangelists for their companies.

In today’s competitive marketplace, communication skills are an important competitive advantage. In fact, Diane DiResta, a professional speech coach and author of “Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch and Pizzazz,